An Unexpected Turn of Events

Chapter Twenty-nine

Harry and Ginny were getting ready for bed, it didn't take long as they had been going to bed nude for some time now. Ginny was in a particularly good mood after spending the evening dancing and celebrating Charlie and Sarah's engagement.

Ginny remembered fondly of Harry whispering to her about their first dance as husband and wife, bringing a warm glow to her. She snuggled in tight to Harry's side and began to lightly run her hand over his chest. "Tonight was wonderful Harry," Ginny said softly. "I dreamed that it was our Wedding reception and everyone was there for us. Not that I wanted to take anything away from Charlie and Sarah, I'm so happy for them too." Ginny sighed, "Is that so wrong Harry, wanting some of the happiness that this war is stealing from us?"

Harry hugged Ginny tight. "No my love, it isn't wrong. It made me so happy too. I had the same thoughts and dancing with you is one of the great pleasures in my life. It is a gift you have taught and shared with me since we first started going together." Harry leaned in and kissed Ginny tenderly, pouring his love through his lips into hers. "I don't think Charlie and Sarah would begrudge sharing something so wonderful and happy with them."

"You always know what to say to make me feel better, my Husband," said Ginny with a small smile.

Harry rolled Ginny onto her back and began to kiss his way around her body. Ginny once again feeling the rapturous bliss of their sensual coupling. She let her hands begin to roam as Harry did the same, once more they shared the ultimate gift of man and woman.

XX

It had been five days since Fleur had woken up feeling the warm wonderful feeling deep down inside her and it hadn't faded one bit, if anything she felt it a little more and it seemed to be growing by the day. Whatever it was it made her feel fantastic and she didn't want the feeling to go away.

She rolled over and kissed Bill who was sleepily trying to wake up. He and Fleur had taken advantage of Charlie's absence for most of the evening to have another amorous encounter while he was still with Sarah.

Charlie had returned home late after spending time with Sarah and her parents. Charlie and Sarah had spent some time talking to Sarah's mother about wedding ideas. Sarah had her own ideas of what she wanted and let her mother know in no uncertain terms it was her wedding and she wasn't going to let anyone tell her what or what no to do.

Wendy had been a bit concerned till Sarah said she wanted a small wedding, somewhere in Tinworth, preferably outside, weather permitting, just some close friends and family. She wanted a small wedding party, she had grown close to Fleur and wanted her for her Matron of Honour, her friend Darlene from the village as a bridesmaid and Ginny as the last bridesmaid.

Charlie knew he'd have no problem getting Bill to be his best man and he hoped that Harry would stand with Ginny, not knowing how he really stood with him, though he had come to the engagement party and didn't seem to have any problems. The real problem was who to pair up with Sarah's friend Darlene. The obvious choice would be one of the Twins, but which one?

One choice would be only have Bill and Fleur stand with them, but Sarah really wanted to have Darlene and she really thought Ginny should be included. Another option discussed was adding one more bridesmaid and the only one they could really think of was Hermione and then they could have both Twins involved. That made the wedding party a bit bigger than Sarah would have liked and would take some further thought.

They then broke up, Wendy going down to see if Bob needed any help, more as an excuse to give Sarah and Charlie some time alone which they spent snogging in the parlour before Charlie left to go back to Shell Cottage.

Sarah went to bed that night thinking she was the happiest woman in the world, she had found someone to spend her life with, someone who made her feel so very special, someone who loved her even if she was just a barmaid at a little family Pub in a little fishing village. She finally fell asleep with the smile still on her face feeling warm and wonderful deep inside.

XX

Charlie rose early and left a note for Bill and Fleur stating he was out early and would meet them at Potter Cottage later that morning. He did leave them their tea and coffee under a warming charm, but they were going to have to make their own breakfast.

Charlie Apparated to Godric's Hollow and left the Potter grounds and headed into town. He stopped for a moment to pay his respects at the Memorial in the square to James and Lily, noting how much Harry and Ginny looked like Harry's parents. He could see in his minds eye Harry and Ginny holding their own child in the future.

Smiling at the thought he turned East out of town, looking for the little cottage he had seen while collecting stone to help in the construction at Potter Cottage. At the outskirts of the village he found it. A small English cottage, one story, with a nice piece of property, the gardens out front were well tended, the whitewash fresh, the thatch tight. It looked like the perfect place to start his family with Sarah. And the best thing was the For Sale sign by the gate.

The sign said "Inquire Within" and since there was smoke streaming out of the chimney he opened the gate, walked to the door and knocked using the knocker which was in the shape of a Dragon.

Charlie laughed thinking could there be any more subtle indications that this place was meant for him and Sarah. He heard someone moving inside and then the door opened to reveal a somewhat elderly woman who smiled at him.

"Good morning young man, inquiring about the cottage?" she asked .

"Yes Mam," answered Charlie.

"Well come on in then, I was just making some tea, you'll join me of course."

Charlie accepted at once, figuring this may be a test of how friendly he was.

"I'm Willowmena Cooper," she said as she turned to the stove to prepare the tea.

"How do you Mam. My name is Charlie Weasley."

"Nice to meet you, Charlie. I can call you Charlie, can't I?" she asked with a smile as she poured the tea.

"Yes Mam, Charlie will do just fine." he replied.

"OK Charlie and you can call me Willow, I hate being call Mam," she said with a laugh.

They sat and enjoyed the tea while Willow told Charlie some about the little cottage. Her sister and her husband had built the place some ninety years ago and lived out their lives here. The husband had passed several years ago and her sister had passed away just over a month ago.

They had no children and no one in the family needed the little cottage so it was decided to sell it. Willow went to the mantle and pulled down a picture and brought it over to the table where Charlie sat.

This is my sister Holly and her husband Walter right out front on their 75th wedding anniversary.

Charlie looked at the picture and saw the happy couple, arm in arm smiling up and waving. They were standing inside the gate in front of the cottage right next to a sign that read "The Dragon's Lair". Charlie looked surprised and shook his head slightly.

Willow noticed, "What's wrong Charlie?" she asked.

"Nothing's wrong Willow, I was just noticing the Dragon's Lair sign. I didn't notice it on the way in," Charlie said handing the picture back.

"Yeah, one of the nephews on Walter's side of the family wanted it. I thought it should stay with the cottage but I didn't get my way. Why?" she asked.

"Well I noticed the door knocker and it seemed so appropriate since my current occupation is as a Dragon Handler," Charlie said with a chuckle.

"Around here?" Willow asked sceptically.

"No," Charlie laughed. "I work at the enclave in Romania and have been home visiting family. I've recently met someone special and asked her to marry me. I've been blessed by her saying yes and I'm looking at moving back here to start a family."

"A Dragon Handler," Willow said softly, more to herself than to Charlie. "How appropriate." She stood up and said, "Why don't I show you around the house first."

Charlie followed her through the house which really didn't take very long though it was slightly bigger than it looked from the front. The front of the house had the parlour and the dining room that flowed right into the kitchen. There were two bedrooms down a short hall, one being the master suite that had it's own bathroom. The other was a nice size and there was a bath in the hall. There was also a sewing room and a man's study at the back of the house with a mudroom and laundry rounding out the main floor. Down stairs was a combination root cellar and basement.

Willow then took him out back and showed him the garden, it too was magnificently tended. Charlie looked around at the pastoral scene, a large tree shaded the sitting area at the back of the cottage and there was a nice section of lawn that spread back to a small potting shed / workshop with a small pond to the one side. It was beautiful and he could see him and Sarah raising a family and entertaining out here.

"How far back does the property run?" asked Charlie.

Willow smiled, "Let's go back in the house, there's a map of the property in the study."

They went back inside and sure enough there on the wall was a framed map showing the property. Charlie was surprised to see how far back the property actually ran. In fact it ran all the way to the edge of the Potter Cottage back property where they planned on installing the Quidditch Pitch.

The properties weren't as large as it first appeared because this quadrant of the village was the smallest. The village was much larger to the south and west of Monument Square than to the north and east where Potter Cottage and The Dragon's Lair were.

They went back to the kitchen where Willow made some more tea. "Well what do you think Charlie?" she asked with a smile.

Charlie looked back at her matching her smile and said "I think it's perfect."

"I thought you might, so what do you say we talk about the price," Willow said with a smile.

It was more than Charlie would have liked to spend but well worth the price, a bargain in fact considering the amount of land that he would be getting with the cottage. He'd be a little stretched till he got back to work but it was doable.

Charlie and Willow shook hands and Willow said she'd have the Goblins draw up the bill of sale. Charlie thanked her and she led him to the door. When he paused to say goodbye she kissed him on the cheek.

"I want to meet his young lady of yours," she said good-naturedly. "She must be something to tear you away from the Dragons and bring you back here. I know Holly was to get Walter to settle down back here, of course he was at the enclave in Norway," she said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Charlie was gobsmacked at hearing that causing Willow to laugh. "You didn't think they named the place The Dragon's Lair on a whim did you?"

XX

Harry, Ginny, Hermione and the Twins were sequestered in Harry and Ginny's room discussing the final plans for their departure. Ginny was sitting quietly trying to stay focused on the conversation but having a tough time. She knew in her head that Harry had to go if they were ever going to be rid of Tom Riddle for good but that didn't mean that her heart accepted it. At least she wasn't crying she said to herself.

Hermione and the Twins were going over lists of things they were taking and trying to see if there was anything else they needed or could do without.

Harry had been involved earlier but recently he had fallen silent and was watching Ginny closely. He noticed her becoming more and more withdrawn as they talked.

Finally he went over and sat beside her on the bed. He wrapped an arm around her and drew her in close, kissing her on the temple and whispering in her ear, "I understand how you feel love."

Ginny rested her head on Harry's shoulder and just nodded. Her melancholy making words unnecessary, she knew Harry understood and hated it just as much as she did. Though she hadn't totally given up hope on Hermione finding a way it was becoming more and more likely she wouldn't find one.

The Twins finally had to go though the reason they came up with seemed rather dodgy to Hermione. She was tempted to mention "The Cottage" to see what reaction she'd get but noticed Ginny's mood and decided that this probably wasn't the best time to do so.

They decided to go downstairs and spend some time out back in the garden. Harry sat on one end of the bench and let Ginny lay down with her head in Harry's lap, Harry softly stroked her hair trying to comfort her knowing that his time was running short and he would be leaving her soon if a way to break the trace wasn't found.

Though they didn't talk of anything serious the mood was still subdued as the three remaining teens spent some time lounging in the garden.

Due to the heat, Molly brought lunch out to the garden and joined the youngsters outside. The lunch of sandwiches and cool drinks was welcome in the heat of the August afternoon, even the ever busy Molly took some time to just sit in the shade and enjoy what breeze there was.

She also spent some time revising the healing spells with Hermione and Ginny, something she thought any woman who planned on having children eventually should learn anyway.

Ginny seemed especially adept at the healing spells and picked them up quickly. The lessons at least took her mind off the impending departure of Harry for a while.

XX

Lucius Malfoy was sweating profusely and it wasn't because of the heat of the August afternoon. He was getting ready to send another group of young Death Eaters out on another raid and he knew if things didn't go well his Lord and Master would not be pleased. And one thing he had learned was that it was dangerous when Voldemort was not pleased with something or someone.

Lucius had four teams of four heading out into muggle towns and villages around London to cause death and mayhem. All the raids would be near magical areas but not too near. No sense inviting Auror interference when you didn't need to.

Lucius just wanted to get these raids over with no difficulties hoping to calm Voldemort and show him that things were back on track and the one raid that they had two followers captured had been a fluke.

He called the four team leaders over to him. "All right, I want you all to execute the raids precisely as planned. Always have someone watching your backs and get in and get out quickly. If you just disappear the terror level is very high, if you get caught things will not go well, remember Douglas, he came back without his wand and you saw what happened to him."

The team leaders all nodded, not trusting themselves to speak under such circumstances. Best to say nothing and not draw attention to ones self. The team leaders rejoined their groups and got ready to Apparate to their designated targets.

Lucius took out his watch and counted down the seconds, as the second hand came around to the twelve he raised his hand, when the hand of the watch ticked to the twelve he dropped his hand and the teams departed.

Lucius was almost frozen watching the minutes ticking off finally the second hand came around for the fifth time and as it returned to the twelve the teams returned unscathed. Lucius felt more relief than elation. The young Death Eaters were exuberant almost to the point of giddiness. Lucius barked a reprimand at the boisterous group which toned down their level of noise.

Shaking his head he turned to go report to the Dark Lord of the successful completion of the latest missions.

XX

Ron Apparated to Shell Cottage and found Bill sitting in the kitchen sipping a cup of tea and reading the Daily Prophet.

Bill waved him to a seat and asked "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No thanks Bill," answered Ron.

"What's on your mind then?" Bill asked.

Ron looked thoughtful for a moment and said "I guess my main question is how did you learn to control your temper?"

Bill smiled wryly "I figured that was what you were interested in knowing." Bill got up and freshened his tea before sitting back down and continuing. "The thing is Ron what I tell you may not help you as much as you'd like. In some respects it's a very individual thing."

Ron sighed at hearing Bill's words, thinking to himself, "I guess this isn't going to be as easy as I hoped."

"First you need to identify what is causing the anger, really causing it. Not what triggers it, what the root of it is," Bill said.

"Ron nodded his head, "What you're saying is that Harry and Ginny are a trigger and something else is the root cause."

"That's right Ron," agreed Bill. "Now there are things you can do to help control your outbursts in the mean time. Little techniques that help you from exploding. Think of them as a way to diffuse the situation before something happens." Bill laughed a little, "Some sound really lame and cliché-ish but if they help, so be it. Stupid stuff like the old count to ten before you say anything, deep breaths to try and calm yourself, visualizing yourself somewhere peaceful are all techniques that are taught to help."

Ron listened intently and realized there wasn't going to be a quick fix as he had hoped. Though he did think that some of the things Bill was mentioning could be of help in the short term.

Bill kept going, "Another thing to remember is that if all else fails and you feel you're going to explode just leave for a while, if home, go up to your room and shut the door or go take a walk, anything to remove yourself from the situation until you can get things back under control. The thing is those are stop-gaps to get you through an episode. You still really need to address the core issue or issues that are the underlying cause. Without that you haven't gained anything except a little time. You may need to speak to someone professionally. I'd also suggest getting some books to read on the subject, maybe ask Hermione to help with that, you never know that may help you in communicating with her."

Ron had a lot to think about and Bill had given him a lot of information to try and help him. "Thanks Bill, you've been a big help. I'll see about getting some books and maybe enlisting Hermione's help."

Bill rose and put his cup in the sink, "You're welcome here any time if you need to talk or any help Ron. You need to start taking control of your anger and not let it control you any more."

Ron nodded, it wasn't the answer he had wanted but it was a start and he really hoped it was the start of bring the beast within him under his control.

XX

Charlie returned to Potter Cottage to find everyone busy with the finish work in the house. He looked around and was proud of all they had accomplished. In a little while they would be delivering the materials for the Quidditch pitch and they would begin to install the hoops that afternoon.

He found Sarah in the house with Fleur, they were working in what would be Harry's study and Charlie thought he'd be very pleased. It was done in Gryffindor colours and looked cozy and inviting. A place a man could go to work or think undisturbed by a bustling household if he needed to.

Charlie moved up behind Sarah and enveloped her in a huge hug, startling her as she had been focused on what Fleur had been saying.

She spun around with a mile-wide smile on her face and chided him, "Charlie! You startled me!"

"Sorry my love, I didn't mean to," he said returning her smile with one of his own.

Sarah gave him a brief kiss and then turned toward Fleur saying to Charlie, "Fleur has agreed to be my Matron of Honour."

Fleur smiled at Sarah's happiness. "How could I refuse such a request?" she asked Charlie. "Look at her, she is so happy, I want to be a part of that."

Charlie left the ladies and went in search of Bill and the Three Musketeers. He found them moving and assembling furniture upstairs. Bill and George were working on the new bed that Charlie had ordered. It matched the wood and finish of the rocker they had found. It was intricately carved with a Stag and Doe standing in a clearing with a castle that looked suspiciously like Hogwarts in the background. It was a large four-poster with a canopy and hangings that matched the room beautifully.

Bill stood up as he saw Charlie enter the room, "It looks great Charlie," he said wiping his brow, smiling at his brother.

"Yeah it does," agreed Charlie. "The craftsman I had do the work is one of the best, good thing he owed me a favour or I never could have gotten it done."

Bill laughed, "Sounds like a good story is in there, but it had better wait till another day." Bill turned and looked at the bed, George was just finishing attaching the last side rail and all they needed to do now was bring up the mattress and bedding and the room would be complete. The other furniture pieces were already in place, the dresser and wardrobe were on one side of the room with a dressing table and a full length mirror on the other, the two night stands completed the setting.

George looked at Charlie and grinned, "It's all coming together isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah it is," agreed Charlie. "I can't wait to show them. I hope it goes a long way to tell them how sorry we all are, that we accept their relationship and want nothing more but love and happiness for them."

Bill patted Charlie on the shoulder, "It should Bro, it should," he said softly. Bill turned and flicked his wand and the mattress appeared. "Let's tell Fleur that this room is ready for their final touch and see what else needs to be done.

The three went in search of the others and found Fred and Ron just finishing up setting the last of the furniture in place in the guest room. It too was ready for the final woman's touch of comforters, sheets and curtains.

They all trooped downstairs into the parlour and looked around. The house itself was almost ready, just one of two more touches here and there and it would be ready for Harry and Ginny.

The five men headed out to see if the Quidditch supplies had been delivered yet, that being the final project that they would need to complete. While out on the back property Charlie gazed to the south where The Dragon's Lair lay. The trees obscured it from view but he knew it was there and it soon would be his and Sarah's.

He couldn't help but smile that didn't go unnoticed by Bill, "What's up with you," he asked quietly.

"Just things," answered Charlie vaguely, "We're almost done, Sarah has agreed to marry me, things are going well. That's all."

The Quidditch materials hadn't arrived yet so they headed back to the house where Charlie figured it was close enough to lunch time for them to break now and return in the afternoon when the materials would be there.

Charlie and Bill gathered their respective women and they all Apparated away to Tinworth and Sarah's parents Pub. They were greeted by Bob as they came through the door and Charlie was a little surprised to see another young lady waiting on the tables.

Sarah saw his confusion and giggled, "I took today off and my friend Darlene is filling in. I let her do that occasionally when I want some time off and it gives her a chance to earn a little money."

As they went to sit down Sarah stopped by the bar to say something to her father and she got their drinks while there. She joined the others at the table and sat close to Charlie snuggling in to his side so she could rest her head on his shoulder when she felt so inclined.

They had a splendid lunch which they lingered over enjoying each others company and revelling in the knowledge that they were almost done with turning Potter Cottage into a home for Harry and Ginny.

XX

AN: Potter Cottage is almost done, and Charlie has found a place to call home.

Preparations are almost complete for the hunt to begin. Things are happening so stay tuned.